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Nokia release Lumia 820 shell templates to the 3D printing community

Now this is going to be fun. Nokia's Lumia 820 already has a number of replaceable shells available, from the Qi wireless charging shell and a ruggedised version, to a number of fashionable colours and finishes. Now there's no need to wait for Nokia to release your perfect shell... because Nokia have released all the information needed to build your own shells with the help of a 3D printer.

The rise of 3D printing in the last few years has allowed all sorts of physical hacking by individuals, as well as rapid prototyping of designs by large companies (witness Microsoft's use of 3D printing in the design process of Windows Phone). I've no doubt that Nokia used the process as well when working on the Lumia designs.

That process, at least for shells, is now going to be thrown open to the 3D community. Today Nokia are releasing what they're calling the 3DK - the 3D-printing kit. It includes...

The 3D templates

The specifications required for a shell case

Recommended materials

Best practices to build a shell case

There's enough information in the package for the 3D community to get to work and see what they can come up. I've already said on the AAWP Insight podcast that I'd love to see a shell that uses the pins on the 820 chassis that connect the Qi wireless charger to the battery to be used to make a high capacity 'second' battery for the 820 to go on the road (and in purple).

What Lumia shell would you print?

Congratulations to Nokia for releasing this. In their words, they are "...the first major phone company to begin embracing the 3D printing community and its incredible potential, and continue to be the leading phone company in this exciting field."